First off, you need to chill out. Second, I didn't say more open-source, I am not pro closed-source, but if closed-source works better I use it, if open-source works better I use it. And for closed source, the NVIDIA drivers have a tendency to be better than ATI drivers on linux.

suraj.sun writes: A Prius driver calls 911 after accelerating to pass another vehicle on a California freeway and finding that he could not control his car.

A California highway police officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop on Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck on a freeway near San Diego, authorities said.

Prius driver James Sikes said that the incident Monday occurred just two weeks after he had taken the vehicle in to an El Cajon dealership for repairs after receiving a recall notice, but he was turned away.

"I gave them my recall notice and they handed it back and said I'm not on the recall list," Sikes said.

I agree with you on Dells, I had a Dell laptop, and it was, and still is an awesome piece of hardware. I had a hard drive go bad, and Dell promptly sent me a new one. They are made for everyday users - tough, cheap, and good middle-of-the-line components.

I would not recommend buying a Mac - I bought one because that is the only way to develop for the iPhone/iPod Touch (still haven't gotten around too it). It is true Mac offers little options. Some Mac junkies like to argue that you get the best technology, and you get what you paid for - however, since you are on slashdot, chances are you will not like the 'dumbed-down' approach Mac OS X takes. As with desktops, the only upgrade path is buy a new Mac (unless you have a Mac Pro), limiting your opportunities to add a new video card, or maybe an additional hard drive, etc.

As for the original question, I use Newegg and tomshardware.com for all of my info, with the occasional google usage. I start with a motherboard I want, (taking note of northbridge), and look it up. I always pick Intel, they are much better bang for the buck than AMD atm. Processor wise - last time I made a computer it was all Core 2 Duo, with the option for extreme or not - much easier. But now you have i3, i5, i7 which are the lastest generation, on a LGA 1366 I believe, the i3 is the lowest tier, and i7 the hardcore enthusiast/gamer/video editor tier. I don't know anything about the models, just look for cache size and speed, those are the main specs for a processor. For the video card, I go with Nvidia because its much more compatible with linux (and FreeBSD) if you like to use their binaries vs. open source drivers. They recently changed how they do they naming, the lower 200 series, I believe are re-casts of the some of the 9xxx series.

mixmaster writes: Started out being the one mocking people for buying ergonomic mouse, keyboard, etc. After only 6 years in front of the computer, my right arm has given me much pain the last half year. Just got the RollerMouse Free (http://www.rollermousefree.com/), but I'm not sure this is the correct product to use. What does fellow slashdotters use? I'm currently coding for 8-10 hours a day. And yes, I know all the shortcuts.

harrymcc writes: Windows has been so dominant for so long that it's easy to forget that Windows 1.0 was vaporware, mocked both outside and inside of Microsoft--and that its immediate successors were considered stopgaps until OS/2 was everywhere. Tandy Trower, the product manager who finally got Windows 1.0 out the door a quarter century ago has written a memoir of the experience. (He thought being assigned the much-maligned project was Microsoft's fiendish way of trying to get rid of him.) The story involves such still-signifcant figures as Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Ray Ozzie, and Nathan Myhrvold; Trower left Microsoft only in November of 2009 after 28 years with the company.Link to Original Source

An anonymous reader writes: After a little over five months of pondering, xkcd fans have cracked a puzzle hidden inside Randall Munroe's recent book xkcd: volume 0. The thread on the xkcd forums starts here; the post revealing the final message (a latitude and longitude plus a date and time) is here.Link to Original Source

nadiskafadi writes: Australia has played a vital role in transmitting images from space for the world to see. This pictorial slideshow look at some of the main highlights of the past 50 years in space history, and how Aussies have helped ensure the space age was well and truly upon us.Link to Original Source

gtarget writes: So it seems all the rumors about Valve developing for Mac are true: Portal 2 has been announced for Mac too! (next stop all Source games, hopefully) Mac gamers rejoice!Link to Original Source

Lokatana writes: Valve Software released a patch to the popular game Portal yesterday, which has spawned speculation that this is the beginning of a viral marketing campaign for a new game. Some believe that this is a precursor to Portal 2, while others support the idea that Half Life 2, Episode 3 is almost here. Either way, evidence is mounting that something big is happening for fans of this game. New achievements in the game, Morse coded messages added to different levels, new images found inside of the game files, a Washington area BBS phone number that streams more intriguing hints and images — more is being discovered as we speak. One thing seems to be agreed by all... GlaDOS is, well, still alive.